Land Layer
Written By Philipp Brockerhoff
Last updated About 2 hours ago
A Land Layer is a special type of Brush Layer that includes a Land Shape Mask. The Land Shape Mask defines where the layer is visible, allowing you to create continents, islands, coastlines, and other landmasses.
The Land Shape Mask is edited using the Land Tool, while textures and colors are painted onto the Land Layer using the Brush Tool.
Layer Options
Land Layers provide the following layer settings:
Opacity: Adjusts the transparency of the entire layer.
Blend Mode: Controls how the layer blends with the layers beneath it.
Land Mask
Every Land Layer contains a Land Shape Mask that controls where the layer is visible. Unlike a Layer Mask, the Land Shape Mask supports only two states:
Visible: The layer is fully visible.
Hidden: The layer is fully transparent.
The Land Mask is edited using the Land Tool.
Land Style Options
Land Style Options control the visual effects rendered along the edge of the Land Mask. Open the Land Style settings by clicking the gear icon next to the Land Layer or by right-clicking the layer and selecting Land Style. The following effects are available:
Stroke: Renders a colored line along the edge of the Land Mask. Adjust the color and thickness of the stroke.
Outline: Renders a colored outline outside the visible land. Adjust the color and thickness of the outline.
Outer Shadow: Renders a glow outside the visible land.
Inner Shadow: Renders a glow inside the visible land.
Ripples: Renders one or more ripple lines outside the coastline with customizable color, width, count and gap width.
Land Shape effects can be enabled or disabled independently.
Paid Feature
The customizing the Land Style Options is available with a paid subscription.
Shadow Options
The Inner Shadow and Outer Shadow use a simplified set of shadow controls designed specifically for Land Shape effects. The following settings are available:
Blur: Controls how soft the shadow appears.
Distance: Controls how far the shadow maintains its full intensity before fading out.
Intensity: Controls the strength of the shadow.
Color: Choose the shadow color using the Color Picker.
Tips
Use Stroke and Outline to make coastlines stand out against the surrounding terrain.
A subtle Outer Shadow helps separate land from water without creating harsh edges.
Combine Inner Shadow with textured terrain to give coastlines additional depth.
See Also
Land Tool: Create and edit the shape of the land before applying textures with the Brush Tool.
Brush Tool: Paint textures and colors onto Brush Layers.
Brush Layers: Store the terrain textures used by Clip Masks.
Layers Panel: Create and manage Object Layers, control drawing order, and organize map content.
Color Picker: Select colors for text, outlines, and shadows.
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